Love Like This
by Rhapsody in Pink
Summary: Lily worked all through Hogwarts with one objective in mind: to be Head Girl. But now that bratty Potter has been made Head Boy, and she's not liking this at all.


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Love Like This

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Part One

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Hogwarts Academy of Witchcraft and Wizardry

From the desk of: Headmistress Minerva McGonagall

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Date of: August seventeenth, year of nineteen hundred and seventy nine

Dear Ms. Evans, 

It is a great honor and pleasure to inform you that all of your hard work has paid off and that you have been selected to be Head Girl of the Hogwarts establishment. You should be proud of the effort that has sustained you thus far and I offer you my congratulations on being the first Gryffindor head girl since I was in school. On September the First, the Head Boy and you shall have a private meeting with Headmaster Dumbledore and myself to discuss your new duties. Your badge is enclosed and the customary compartment on the Hogwarts Express has been reserved. I look forward to seeing you again and I'm sure you'll uphold the Gryffindor tradition well. 

Yours Sincerely,

Professor McGonagall

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Head Mistress of Hogwarts Academy of Witchcraft and Wizardry

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I examined myself meticulously. My uniform skirt was pleasantly lint-free and the badge that stated I was Head Girl shined cheerfully. Personally, I dreaded the thought of going outside in the rain that was presently drowning the country area in which I lived in. Yes, there were times when I was grateful that I lived at Hogwarts for most of the year. This was one of them. 

"LIL-Y," Petunia, the bossiest, snottiest, meanest person ever, screamed from the foot of the stairs. She was another reason I was happy to spend most of the year at boarding school- anything that would keep me from seeing Petunia and the pug-faced boyfriend Vernon. They were such a disgusting pair that they were perfect for one another.

With a sigh I turned around and walked down the hallway carefully so as not to upset my outfit. Sure, it was going to be ruined as soon as I got outside but that didn't mean it had to be upset now! 

"Is there something wrong, Petty dear?" I asked in a sickening tone. Merlin, how I hated Petunia. It was a horrible thing to do because we _were_ related by blood. Well, what do you think the saying 'you can't choose your relatives' is for? I thought it described my opinion about Petunia perfectly, the horse faced little monster. 

"Yes, Lilsie dear," Petunia mimicked. I did have to say one thing, Petunia may be stupid but she isn't dense. She could tell I was poking fun at her. "If you don't hurry your lazy self we won't be at London in time and I will _not_ have you hanging around the house when the girls come over to plan the wedding." That threw me into a panic. I could NOT miss the train this year of _all_ years. What would Professor McGonagall think? Or Professor Dumbledore? I was _Head Girl _for goodness sake, I _couldn't_ be late. Not to mention the fact that if I stuck around while the 'girls' were here I'd probably get thrown into a stupid job like being a bridesmaid or something and forced to wear a hideous frilly dress in the spring. How anyone could bring themselves to marry Petunia, I did not know. 

"Uh oh!" I stampeded down the stairs and narrowly missed a head on collision with Petunia who started yelling as she entered the kitchen. I distinctly heard the word 'freak' mixed up somewhere in that mumbo jumbo but who really cared what Petunia thought? 

"Lily, dear, grab a piece of toast and we'll be going," my mother was a graying housewife in her mid forties. She was busily cleaning up the kitchen from breakfast. I nibbled on the edge of the thick toast that was heavy with a homemade jam from the north country where my grandmother lived. 

"Sure Mum," I answered while idly looking around for Dad. He came in shortly wearing a slick black rain coat and absolutely soaked. Dad was a very tall (about six foot seven) muscular man who had only recently took up office work in his old age (he was nearing fifty). I had gotten my unique green eyes from him and Grandmother. A family trait, you understand. However, I had not inherited his size. No, I was probably one of the shortest people in seventh year. Mum had promised a growth spurt but seeing as I was seventeen, I wasn't counting on it. Oh well. Dad's hair had long since been gray and there was only a fringe that wrapped around his head and ended near his ears. He was bald on top

"Everything is in the car!" he announced after Mum had scolded him for dripping on her clean floor. "Are my girls ready to go?" 

"Of course dear," Mum answered as she hastily wiped her sudsy hands on a towel and slid into her own rain gear. I pulled on my shiny anorak. "Petunia are you coming?" she called to Petunia who had stayed by the stairs and was now engaged in a conversation with her beloved, Vernon. 

"No, Mum," Petunia's voice was exasperated. "How many times do I have to tell you? This wedding won't plan itself on its own!" Then she went back to cooing at Vernon about how handsome and strong he was. A fib if I'd had ever heard one! 

"Well, okay," Mum pushed open the door and scurried to the car holding her coat above her head. I followed quickly and hurriedly clambered into the vehicle. Dad locked up the trunk and revved the engine. 

"Everything all set?" 

"Check Dad," I said grimly. I could tell my hair was beginning to frizz in the dry heat blasting from the vents. There went good first impressions! 

"So, Lily honey, is there any boy you fancy this year? Should I be checking his credentials?" said Mum from the front seat. Oh the humiliation! 

"_Mu-um!" _I cried. 

"Sweetheart, we just want to see if he's an acceptable sort of boy. I wouldn't want a delinquent dating my daughter. 

"Just-keep-driving-Dad." I looked sulkily out the window into the rain. Parents! Did they have to know everything? Besides the only delinquents at Hogwarts were the Marauders and I'd be damned before I fell for one of those womanizing, over-sized balls of testosterone. The ego of James Potter alone could feed the entire community of third world countries if it were converted into food. I kept quiet in the next twenty minutes as Mum and Dad discussed politics and those evil filled night clubs that had been on the news lately and other events like that. I wasn't much interested in anything of that sort as long as it didn't interfere with the family's annual visit to Italy in the summer. I contemplated what I'd be doing when I arrived at Hogwarts. Who was Head Boy going to be?

"Lily, we're here," Dad said interrupting my reverie. He got out of the car and I looked excitedly out of the window. It was almost time! Soon I would be at Hogwarts with my best friend Arabella Figg. I hadn't seen Bella in ages! I followed Dad out of the car where a light mist of fog greeted me. You'd think that it would be London with all the rain, especially since all the pictures seemed to be of tan business coats, cloudy skies, and wet black umbrellas. But _no,_ it was only at my house where the rain never stopped. 

"Do you need any help?" Mum asked with concern. Dad had managed to get me a little trolley to put all of my trunks on. 

"I'll be fine Mum," I reassured her. We hugged and she attempted to smooth my frizzies back into my pony tail. "It won't work," I informed her with a sigh. Dad swooped me into a hug that almost crushed my ribs and then I waved goodbye, called 'I love you, see you at vacation!', and ran through the solid wall that hid Platform 9 ¾ from muggle view. It was such a relief to be back in the magic world! 

I pulled a uniform robe out from my trunk with the addition of a couple of sickles for a snack before leaving the giant wooden box with a man who promised that it wouldn't be lost. I had almost gotten safely aboard the Express when a meteorite from hell chose to knock me from behind. I fell heavily on the step and skinned my knee. 

"Sorry about that," he said. I turned around to see laughing brown eyes from behind a pair of glasses that had been knocked askew. They belonged to a tall, handsome teenager with a lean muscular body and an ego big enough to feed the population of all the third world countries put together. "Oh- it's you."

"Are you insinuating that you wouldn't have apologized if you had known who I was?" I demanded dizzily trying to avoid thinking about the drop of blood coming from my knee. Blood, red blood. _My _blood. Coming from my knee. Blood. 

"Yes," James answered bluntly with a hundred watt grin. I squeezed my eyes shut. Blood…blood…blood. It was sticky and coming from my knee. "Woa, Evans, you're bleeding."

"I know that you idiot," I said thickly. I curled my hand around the edge of a step tightly. 

"Um, Evans? You aren't…_scared_ of blood, are you?" Behind my eyes was a vision of all my blood leaking out of my body through my knee. A red haze surrounded me. I wouldn't get to be head girl or do anything fun like that. I wouldn't even find out who was head boy with me. No, I was going to _die_ here with none other than James Potter while all the blood leaked out of my body. Wasn't it just _so_ typical that he'd be the one to kill me? 

"Of course not," I stammered. Here I was: me and my murderer. My murderer and I. I never thought I'd use that sentence. 

"Look, Evans. See? No blood." I opened my eyes cautiously and glared at my treacherous knee. Great, James had been trying to find out my weakness for the past six years and now he knew. This was turning out to be a bad day. He had taken a piece of cloth from somewhere (I suspected his sock- I wouldn't put it past him) and tied it around my bloody bleeding traitorous knee. And now I owed him something. This day just got worse and worse by the second. It was practically a wizard's debt! 

"Er…thanks," I said haltingly. It was official. This _was_ the worst day of my life. 

"Can I hear that again?" James had straightened his glasses and was looking at me with that I'm-so-much-better-than-thou look that I despised so much. 

"No," I answered shortly. James shrugged. 

"Oh well, it was worth a try." He offered a hand to help me up but I pushed it away and instead took my robe (which I had fallen on) and dusted it off. 

"So Jamsie has a new girlfriend? Wow, and I didn't even think that the 'perfect' Lily Evans was susceptible to our charms. Learn something new every day, huh?" a new person had joined us. A new person that I knew altogether _too _well. 

"Shut-up Black," I glared at him. "Unless you have a death wish or anything like that." 

"Lily, darling, so glad you're back!" Sirius exclaimed with false joviality. 

"Shove off," I grumbled. The whistle blew, signaling that the train was going to start moving in just a few moments. I climbed up the steps haughtily while trying my best to ignore the quidditch conversation going on between James and Sirius. Who cared which team was better? It wasn't as if they were old enough to bet on it. Not that I'd put it past them to do so illegally.

I continued on my way to the compartment reserved for the heads. Black and Potter were still behind me. What, were they stalking me or something? Just because James saved my life (after almost killing me) does not give them any reason to follow me. Gits! By the time I'd reached the compartment, I'd also reached the conclusion that they were trying to kill me. After that experience with Snape twenty-five steps back (I'd considered issuing point deductions but doing so before reaching Hogwarts didn't bode well), the meet up with Remus ten steps back, and Peter actually falling on top of me a second ago- well, I didn't have much chance of living until the eighties. And they are supposed to be the best decade yet!

I finally reached the Heads compartment and opened the door triumphantly, to look at my domain. Ah yes: heaven. Pillows stuffed to brim with feathers, a table nailed to the floor carrying a basket of sweets and a pitcher of iced pumpkin juice- and it was mine! All mine!

Standing straighter with just a tad of my own ego shining through (okay, I had ego but it wasn't as much as the moronic Marauders had!) I stalked proudly to wear the personal note from Professor Dumbledore lay. I carefully slid off the wide scarlet ribbon that was wrapped around the scroll of parchment- a souvenir- and paused to mutter a plea.

"Please don't let it be Snape! Please don't let it be Snape!" As you see, the letter from Dumbledore would be addressed to both the Head Girl and Head Boy and for the first time I would know who my colleague was! 

"It sure isn't Snape," Remus Lupin snorted from behind me. 

"Heck no!" James exclaimed vehemently. 

I ignored the display with dignity- although suspicions began to arise when I realized the stupid ones were STILL BLOODY HERE. 

"Oh no." I stared at the unfolded letter. It couldn't be! It just… couldn't! How had the lack wit managed to even get the grades to compare with me?! This was awful… worse than Snape. My greatest fears confirmed!!!

"Hey Lily," James sidled up to me. He grinned demonically- sometimes I think he spends a little too much time with Sirius. "You're going down."

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Author's Note

Okay, I'm so, so sorry for no updates but my muses have decided to take a small vacation (they will be severely injured when they come back… after I write another chapter though, of course.) However, this is something I was muddling along with for a while, one of my stories that just gradually grew. I hope you like it!

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Disclaimer: 

If I owned Harry Potter etc. you wouldn't even know the Marauders existed because they would be too busy worshiping me. So there you go, sadly they are not mine.


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